


From Fraying Petals to Blooming Meadows

by unrealistically



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Flower Drawing, Fluff, High School, M/M, Tony finds Clay adorable, Tony has a sleep disorder, bad at tags, many drawings and illustrations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-10 18:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11132271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unrealistically/pseuds/unrealistically
Summary: The fellow in the leather jacket always fell asleep while in their art class, and Clay always peeked at the mysterious teen's notebook to admire his work. Strangely, he regularly found himself discreetly peeking at his table mate's drawings. And then Clay thought it'd be a good idea to add his own illustration.He wrote a tiny message and drew a small illustration in the man's notebook, all while the owner of it was sleeping away.





	From Fraying Petals to Blooming Meadows

**Author's Note:**

> I have not done anything in such a long time, and I'm really sorry for that!
> 
> My birthday is coming up in just two days omgomgomgomg
> 
> anyways please enjoy!

Clay narrowed his eyes at the leather jacket wearing fellow sitting beside him, taking note of the quiet yet slightly irritating snoring that came from him. He had his head ducked into his folded arms and his back went up and down in a rhythmic movement that would resemble one of someone who was sleeping. He looked to the front towards the teacher, wondering if she had noticed that his neighbor was snoozing away yet again in her class, but she never noticed as usual. The two of them sat at the very back, so he could understand why his table mate would be able to get away with his free nap. He quietly judged him, seeing as it was only the second week into school and he was already ignoring the schoolwork that he had to do.

The class was in midst of a painting assignment. The assignment was to illustrate a simple object that could resemble many thematic messages and ideas. Clay picked a flower as the simple object, and spent many hours at school as well as at home drawing and applying finishing touches to it. When he presented his drawing to the teacher, she was surprised and delighted at his beautiful illustration, which was a lovely bundle of cherry blossom flowers. He loved being praised for his work in that class, which was why he always went took the extra time to make his illustrations.

He loved drawing.

He rested his chin on his palm and overlooked the class, seeing people working on their own assignments, while also chatting with the peers among them. Obviously, he was done with his own and couldn't do anything related to the class to pass the time. He curiously peeked to his left again, watching his table mate rest quietly. Clay's gaze moved over to the man's notebook, which was open. In the notebook, Clay saw two drawings, one on each page. The first one was of what seemed to be a field of snow, with a cabin nearby. The cabin shined brightly with a warm color of yellow that poured out of it's windows, and it shone upon most of the snow ground. There was also a beautiful purple and orange sunset in the background, which was beautifully shaded and detailed. Clay found himself smiling before he looked at the second picture, which was a drawing of a flower.

The flower was colorless, yet it was detailed in a way even Clay never saw on a painting that originated from the class he was taking. The flower was a single rose, and it's stem held many thorns and leaves. The flower seemed to be only slightly bloomed, like it hadn't fully grown yet, and the leaves were pointy and prickly at the tips. The thorns seemed to fray, but the petals were in a worse condition, becoming thinner and even peeling off. Clay frowned at this, a little overwhelmed by the saddening flower that was clearly dying. He finally turned away, and tentatively fished out his phone from his pocket and plugged his earbuds in, drowning out the noises of chatter that came from his classmates. He closed his eyes and laid his head in his arms, like how his table mate was doing and basked in the peace that he forced himself to enjoy. He wasn't worried about getting in trouble because his teacher loved him, and didn't really lecture him for doing anything bad.

Being a teacher's favorite student had it's advantages.

He started to doze off, but he faintly heard the bell ring, signalling that the period they were in had ended. He looked up to see the shuffling of students who were packing up and leaving, and he started to pack his things up as well. Again, he looked over at the dude next to him, who was still sleeping away. Clay tilted his head and furrowed his brow. He hesitantly placed a hand on the other's shoulder and gently shook him. The sleeper's head shot up quickly and Clay nearly fell back at the rapid movement. He turned his head to Clay with a glare plastered on his face.

"I'm really sorry," Clay stuttered quickly while trying to hide the obvious blush that was swiftly creeping onto his face. "I didn't mean to wake you up like that, but I didn't want you to be late to your next class." His table mate's glare softened at this, and was replaced with a curious gaze. Clay looked down at the floor, avoiding the man's stare, and just held onto his backpack's shoulder straps. He lifted his gaze back up as he saw him get up.

"Don't be sorry," he said. "If anything, thanks for waking me up." Clay nodded with a small smile. Before the two of them could go their separate ways, Clay's curiosity got the best of him and he asked his table mate a question.

"Do you get enough sleep at night?" He asked hesitantly. The other raised a brow in surprise. Clay scratched at the back of his head, one of many acts that he did when he was nervous. "I don't mean to pry, it just seems that you.. sleep a lot during first period." The fellow started to pack his things up as he responded.

"Not as much sleep as I'd hope," he replied as he zipped his backpack closed. He slung it over his shoulder and gave a small wave at Clay as he left the room. "See you tomorrow, man." Clay returned a wave halfheartedly and left the room too, hoping that the small interaction they had didn't cause the both of them to be late.

* * *

 

Clay peeked over at the journal that resided next to him, though it belonged to his table partner, who again was lightly dozing off during the class. If Clay weren't so bored out of his mind and if he actually had things to do for the class, then he wouldn't be nosy and peek through the stranger's notebook.

But he was bored out of his mind, and he didn't have anything to do for that class.

He reluctantly grabbed the notebook and placed it in front of him. He shakily opened the first page, instantly being informed of the person's name, which was fancily designed and printed on the title page.

_Tony Padilla_

He turned the page, and saw a drawing on each of the pages. One was of a trio of arrows, and it's illustration was a bit blurry to resemble the massive speed of the flying arrows. Clay looked to his left again, paranoid that Tony was now awake and judging him for looking through his notebook without permission. He gave a small sigh of relief when he saw that Tony was still napping and continued to look at Tony's drawings.

The second one was a drawing of a person. Clay inspected closely, taking note of the facial features. He raised a brow, noting that it looked a lot like Tony. Could it be him? He frowned as he looked even closer at the picture, seeing that the person who was drawn looked to be in a sad mood, and looked very worn out. His eyes were droopy and had bags under them. Clay quickly turned the page, not wanting to be filled with sadness just by looking at a picture.

Clay is then met with two new images. One was of a small bird, who seemed to be abandoned on a tree because three other birds could be seen in the distance of the picture, flying away. Blood was seeping from the small bird's wing, and Clay came to the conclusion that the bird's wing was broken, and it couldn't fly away with it's family. Clay looked at the next picture, which was a man who was pushing a boulder. Clay noted that it represented strength. He turned the page and came across the same drawings that he saw yesterday, the snowy cabin with the sunset and the dying rose.

Turning the page, Clay was filled with disappointment as he saw that it was empty. He looked over at Tony again and saw that he was still in a slumber. Clay frowned at this, and hesitantly picked up his pencil as he started to write in the margin above the empty page, writing very small.

_get more sleep if you can! sleep is important! :) - Clay_

To top off the message, he drew a medium sized rose. He left the book opened and put it back in its original spot, and waited for the bell to ring.

When it rang, Tony sat up from his usual sleeping position and started to pack up his things, but stopped what he was doing when he saw the small message and flower. He raised a brow and gave a cheeky grin after seeing that it was written and drawn by the person who sat next to him everyday. He looked back to Clay, but Clay was already out of the classroom.

* * *

There was something about him.

Tony didn't know what it was, and it was pissing him off that he couldn't point his finger on it.

Was it his cute flower drawing? Or how he blushed at every little thing? Or maybe his smile and how he practically lit up when he talked about his experiences that inspired him to draw? Or how they were basically strangers, but Clay was showing that he was caring in what could only be the most adorable way possible?

It was ironic. Clay's captivating message that was intended to help Tony fall asleep made him stay up all night just thinking about it.

Tony suddenly heard the familiar sound of shouting coming from outside his door.

His parents were fighting.

As they always did.

Tony put on his headphones, not wanting to hear his parents shout at each other more than he usually had to. Frustrated, Tony started to draw a meadow around the rose that Clay drew, adding small grass and trees and drawing even more roses beside the original, adding thorn and leaf details to them. He drew his roses how he usually did, the petals slightly frayed while the thorns and prickly leaves were still strong. He looked at the single rose Clay drew and noted of it's lively petals and lack of threatening leaves and thorns. It seemed to stick out from the others. Tony hovered his pencil tip over Clay's rose, determined to add thorns. Tony noted that the rose was too beautiful to be made into something depressing and sinister, so after quite a few minutes of contemplation, Tony decided against it.

He looked at his other roses, noting of their evil aura. It took him a while, but Tony erased the thorns from the roses that he just drew, and adjusted the petals, making them seem more alive and well and not dying and falling apart.

The angst wasn't needed here.

The clock on his nightstand showed that it was 2:49AM as Tony sat up on his bed wide awake, leaning against the bed frame and now staring at the little message and drawings that he and Clay made together in his notebook as if it was a winning lottery ticket.

It may as well be.

* * *

The clock read 7:58AM, and Tony wasn't in the classroom, which gave Clay the similar feeling of disappointment. He mentally frowned, complaining to himself that Tony was never late or absent to this class. He started to doodle on his own notebook and as if on cue, the door opened, giving a slowly painful creak sound. Clay looked up to see a very exhausted looking Tony, which made Clay give a small frown, but he was still happier than he was a minute ago, seeing that Tony was here. Tony gave the teacher a tardy slip and walked towards his seat next to Clay. Clay gave friendly gestures, he waved and showed a smile. Tony gave a look of surprise again, but returned the smile sleepily as he took his seat.

He took out his notebook as usual, and rested his forehead on his palm as he gazed at the table top. Clay gave a concerned look, seeing the slight change in character.

"You okay?" Clay asked with much reluctance. "Did you get any sleep last night?" Tony looked over at Clay and gave another smile.

"I'm alright," he said as he ducked his head into his arms again, clearly wanting to just go to sleep. "Just tired."

Clay gave a knowing look and let him nap in peace as the teacher was discussing the significance of color combinations. Clay listened wholeheartedly but had his attention quickly diverted away as he looked at Tony's notebook. He blushed at the thought of Tony reading his silly message and drawing. He grasped the notebook and turned to the page that he wrote in yesterday. He widened his eyes and reddened even more at what he saw.

He saw a meadow of roses.

Many dynamic roses were surrounding the one that he drew. There was also a sunset, much like the one from Tony's cabin illustration, a grass field, beautiful trees and even a small stream nearby. Clay looked over at Tony, who wasn't at all sleeping. Instead, Tony was sitting up, and smiling at Clay passionately.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He asked quietly, not keeping his gaze off of Clay.

_It truly is._

**Author's Note:**

> leave a kudos and lovely comment if you enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading! <3


End file.
